


My Youth Is Yours

by theloverneverleaves



Series: Shadowhunters Love Fest [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec finds out about Magnus' magic, Alec's adorable, Alternate Universe - This World Inverted (Shadowhunters TV), M/M, That's it, and i love this universe, and so is Magnus, that's the whole story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 19:50:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9563810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theloverneverleaves/pseuds/theloverneverleaves
Summary: It's a big night for Magnus Bane. Tonight is the night he's finally going to tell his mundane boyfriend the truth. But sadly, even the best laid plans go to waste - which is probably why Magnus never usually bothers to make them in the first place.aka. world inverted alec finds out about magnus' magic





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of the [Shadowhunters Love Fest](http://achilleanragnor.tumblr.com/post/154910608248/shadowhunters-valentines-day-fic-a-thon). Today's prompt was Admissions/Confessions, and this is one secret reveal I have always adored.
> 
> Come yell at me at [isabellebiwoods](http://isabellebiwoods.tumblr.com/) xoxo

It should have been easy to tell him. Magnus didn’t exactly have a lot of doubts about Alec Lightwood. Alec who was so curious and creative and bright and  _ alive _ and willing to really  _ live _ . He had a spark about him that Magnus hadn’t seen for years, a spark he’d forgotten people could have. A few centuries being stuck in a rut could do that to you. But Alec… Alec brought it all back.

Alec made him feel truly  _ alive _ for the first time in centuries.

It had been easy to say I love you, easy to say words that people set so much store in. It was easy to let Alec into every mundane, natural part of his life. But the rest of it… Alec would ask how old he was, and not really understand when he dodged the question. He would ask why he’d gone into tarot cards and not really understand when Magnus said he had the knack for it. There was so much he didn’t understand, but it wasn’t his  _ fault _ . He didn’t know, didn’t have the context required. And how could he?

Alexander Lightwood was utterly, blissfully mundane, and Magnus loved him for it. But that wasn’t an excuse for him to hide the truth. 

He’d been thinking about how to do it for months. Every time they were curled up together, it seemed to haunt him. And rather than drifting off, that spectre had only gotten bigger, to the point where Magnus thought Alec might even be  _ noticing _ it. But then, he had been a little distracted. Ever since the incident with the portal, Magnus had vowed not to lose grip on who he was again. It had all drifted away so easily - his magic, everything he was, a core part of his identity. 

So he’d been practicing. Taking time out of his day, making sure that his powers were still there, if untested. It was like retraining an old muscle. But where he’d previously used it to fight, to defend himself, to harm, he found his energies being directed onto new paths. The world was so big these days. Might as well use what he had to make it a little brighter, right? Even if he was descended directly from the mouth of hell itself.

It would be quite the ‘screw you’ to his dear old departed father, after all.

Catarina and Ragnor had been perfectly happy to assist, even happier to hear from him after years of refusing to listen to their complaints at his retreat from magic altogether. Catarina had looked rather smug when he’d asked for her assistance, but it was worth it, if only to remind himself of all the use he could be in the world. The use they could all be. He was worth more than tarot cards. And he was going to prove that.

None of this, however, made the job of telling Alec Lightwood that he was dating a centuries old warlock any easier.

He’d had a hundred ideas. Moments where he thought he should just breathe it out, a confession on the night air, nestled in the warm of their bed, Alec’s arms wrapped around him. The clink of the coffee spoon, the hum of the TV, the sound of Alec’s voice as he spoke to clients on the phone, the gentle spin of the washer/dryer, the bubble of a pot on the stove. I’m a warlock, I’m a warlock, I’m a warlock. Just say it, his mind whispered. Just tell him. 

But the very safety that made those moments so attractive made him all the more reluctant to spoil them. Alec was safe and warm and relaxed and open, and Magnus knew he deserved better than poisoning that for him. He worked so hard. Magnus could see it, in every inch of passion he put into his work for his clients. It was admirable. His time off was precious, and these days, he spent so much of it with Magnus. He wasn’t about to jeopardise that.

Of course, the upshot of that was that Magnus actually had to plan how he was going to tell Alec. Some sort of grand gesture, or maybe a small one. Just coming out and saying the words seemed too… simple. Alec would never believe him, anyway. He’d been raised in a world of logic and science and things that could be explained. Magic was fiction to him. Magic didn’t exist. Just… blurting it out probably wasn’t going to work well.

Mulling over what  _ was _ going to work well had kept him up more than one night, to the point where Catarina, Ragnor, Raphael and the few other friends he had were completely sick of hearing about it. 

“Dios, just tell the mundane already. I’m tired of listening to you whining about it,” Raphael had complained one day, and Magnus had just rolled his eyes and plied the vampire with more coffee. 

He did have a point though. He should really just get it over with before he drove himself completely crazy.

Which was exactly why Magnus was standing in his kitchen, fussing between several pans, attempting to cook dinner. He’d always liked cooking, liked the simplicity of it all. And it seemed like a nice gesture. At least it could be a ‘sorry I broke your world views’ gesture after he finally managed to get the words out. Somehow.

Honestly, Magnus hadn’t actually planned much of this past the the ‘make dinner’ stage, but he figured he could come up with something when he needed to. Possibly. Probably. Well, he didn’t have many options other than that left at this point but it would be fine. 

Probably.

He heard the door click open in the hallway, the sound of the lock turning a familiar old friend to him. It had been strange for a while, for Alec to have unrestricted access to so much of his life. But it was right. It felt right. And he still got a thrill from it, even now. Even if he had asked Alec to come over.

“Hey, Magnus, I’m here,” he called out softly, and Magnus left the stove to see Alec standing there, looking good as ever. Hair perfectly styled, navy shirt set over cream pants, a look that very few people could actually pull off. Alec, though, could probably make neons and sweatbands look good. Which was saying something. “Are you cooking?”

Magnus nodded. Maybe he liked cooking, but he didn’t do it very often, which explained the cute little furrowed brow on Alec’s face, puzzled expression. Magnus nodded, moving over to greet his boyfriend properly. He pressed a light kiss to Alec’s cheek before taking his jacket, hanging it up at the door. 

“What’s the occasion?” Alec asked curiously, watching the attention that Magnus seemed to fix on his jacket. Which, really, who would want to pay attention to a jacket with  _ Alec _ in the room? But it seemed like a nicer distraction than dodging the issue he definitely needed to broach.

He should probably just say it, right? But not right away. Alec was barely over the threshold, he needed time to settle in. Maybe he should ply him with wine. But drunk was probably a bad idea, Magnus mused. If Alec was drunk he’d probably blame everything he heard on the alcohol. Tipsy, then. Or maybe just a glass, to settle his nerves?

Maybe Magnus needed the wine more than Alec did. 

“No occasion. Not really. I just wanted to talk to you,” Magnus explained briefly, smiling weakly at his boyfriend. Alec arched an eyebrow.

“O-kay?” He dragged out the word, looking more than a little bemused. “About what?”

I’m a warlock.

“We can talk about it later,” Magnus said with a smile. “Come on, have a seat, everything is under control.” Magnus suggested, all but dragging Alec through to the lounge. “Can I get you anything? Wine? Coffee?”

“I’m good. What’s with the waiter service?” Alec asked, looking even more bemused, watching Magnus flit around the room a little, rearranging his things. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Me? I’m fine. Everything is fine,” Magnus replied quickly. His voice did not jump an octave. He was perfectly steady and a picture of calm. Everything was  _ fine _ . 

“Magnus,” Alec said, exasperated, getting up to his feet from the chair Magnus had deposited him in and cutting into Magnus’ path of fussing. Magnus felt his breath catch, taken away by just how commanding and beautiful his boyfriend could look when he wanted to. Even that first night, when he’d been on a mission, Alec had so easily distracted him and knocked him off course. Something about the tall, gorgeous event planner just… took his breath away. No matter what. “Just tell me what’s going on,” Alec pleaded a little, reaching out for Magnus’ arm, squeezing it gently as he looked for eye contact. “You’ve been distracted for a while.”

Dammit. He had noticed.

Magnus exhaled softly, eyes flicking up to meet Alec’s pretty hazel ones. He wondered what Alec would think of his real eyes. Of everything. Only one way to find out, he supposed. 

“Alec, I-” Magnus started, but before he could finish, Alec’s expression had furrowed into a frown again.

“Do you smell burning?”

Burning?

Oh. That was what that was.

The kitchen. He possibly should have paid more attention to dinner. 

Spinning on his heel, Alec led the way through to the kitchen, Magnus hot on his heels. Where Magnus might have expected to find his sauce stuck to the bottom of a pan, what he instead found was a very happy puddle of flames crackling away on his stove. Church was standing in the doorway, which only made Magnus narrow his eyes a little. Lousy animal had probably knocked something over, which had set a nice fire to interrupt his precise and very effective plan for revealing the truth to Alec. 

Now instead he had a bunch of food on fire, which was… inconvenient. 

Alec, however, seemed to think it was a mite more than inconvenient as he pushed Magnus back, looking around the room. “Where do you keep your fire extinguisher?” Alec asked, and Magnus just looked at him, bewildered. Fire extinguisher? Was he supposed to keep one of those? His magic might have been dormant for a long time but he’d always been capable of putting out a fire if need be. That was hardly a stretch. Even if he was better for starting them, really. 

Alec made a small noise of exasperation, grabbing a teatowel and taking a step towards the raging inferno. But before he could get any closer, Magnus stepped in, putting a hand in front of Alec’s chest. Alec just looked at him like he was crazy. Which… to be fair probably wasn’t an expression that was going to be disappearing any time soon. 

Especially since Magnus raised his other hand, and with a snap of his fingers and a curling wisp of blue magic, the fire was gone. Had it not been for the smouldering evidence on the hob, it would be like it had never been there at all.

“Abracadabra,” Magnus murmured under his breath. 

Okay, maybe this hadn’t been the plan, but…. it was something, right?

The teatowel Alec was holding slid to the floor, where Church looked at it with a certain disdain before wandering off through the apartment. Alec, however, was rooted to the spot, staring at the hob. “Magnus?” he asked, in a tone that was looking for stability and guidance more than it was answers. But still. This was the big chance he’d been looking for, right?

“So. I’m a warlock.”

There. Easy. Right? 

Alec took a step back, leaning heavily against the wall, staring at the hob still. Magnus waited for a long moment, determined to give Alec some space. But eventually, it dragged on so long that even Magnus began to worry a little. There was always the risk that Alec… might not want to deal with all this. 

He was probably getting dumped. That was… problematic. 

“Alec… can you maybe… say something? Please?” Magnus begged quietly, leaning against the kitchen counter, careful to give Alec the space he needed, the space to process the impossible and just… react. However he wanted to. However bad it was. He could take it. He could totally take it. He was a centuries old warlock, it wasn’t like a mundane boy hardly out of his teenage years would be able to smash him into a thousand pieces.

Only he absolutely could smash him into a thousand pieces.

“The tarot cards and… you…” Alec started, pausing and taking a deep breath. “Is that why your coffee is always so good? I knew it wasn’t just the machine.”

It was Magnus’ turn to stand there dumbstruck, staring at his boyfriend for a long moment.

“That’s what you’re going with?  _ Coffee _ ?”

“I… yeah.”

The boy was something special, that was for sure. As if Magnus hadn’t known that already.

“Okay, just to clarify,” Magnus started, loathing the fact he was effectively going to dig his own grave, but hey, might as well. “I have magic. Real, put out fires, cure all ills, thunderbolts and lightning, very very frightening magic. Because I’m a warlock. And… your first reaction is you want to know if my coffee is magic?”

Alec paused.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Magnus was definitely trying not to let his jaw hit the floor, but it was a struggle. “Did you just make a Queen reference?”

Magnus couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head a little. This wasn’t real. Clearly there was an alternate dimension he’d slipped into by accident where Alec Lightwood was really this fine with magic, because this couldn’t be real, right?

“You’re… you never fail to amaze me,” Magnus told him. Alec smiled, and shrugged idly.

“It’s a talent.” After a moment, he stepped forward to where Magnus was, taking his hand gently, stroking his fingers. “Is this what you’ve been so worried about? Telling me?”

Magnus paused for a moment, before nodding reluctantly, eyes falling downwards. Before he could really focus on anything, though, Alec tipped his chin upwards, dragging his eyes to meet his own. “You’re completely ridiculous, Magnus Bane. You’re lucky I love you so much.”

“I just told you magic is real, I had a right to be worried about that!” Magnus protested.

“Were you worried about that, or were you worried about me breaking up with you because of it?” Alec challenged, raising an eyebrow. Magnus opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it. He couldn’t. Because it was true. 

What’s the worst that can happen? It was the question he’d been asking himself for weeks, that Ragnor and Raphael had been asking for weeks. And it always circled back to one answer. Losing Alec. Losing him because he couldn’t handle it, losing him for whatever reason because of this. He didn’t want to lose Alec. But the truth of the matter was that if he hadn’t told Alec now, he would have found out one day, and that moment… not having agency over this moment… that would have been even more deadly. 

“Magnus… I love you.  _ All _ of you. If this magic… if this is part of you, then I love that too. No questions asked.” As easy and simple as that. Funny what love did.

“You don’t even seem  _ surprised, _ ” Magnus complained. He’d been psyching himself up for this for weeks and for what? Apparently all he had to do was put out a fire his cat set and Alec would shrug and ask him where he got his coffee. 

“Oh, I’m surprised. I’m still… wrapping my head around all of this. And you have a lot of explaining to do so I can understand this,” Alec warned him, but not in an angry tone. More of a genuinely curious one, cautious. “But I’m not mad. And I’m definitely not breaking up with you.”

“But… I lied to you… for months.”

“Do you  _ want _ me to be mad at you?”

“No!” Magnus protested immediately, hands fluttering upwards, eventually coming to rest on Alec’s biceps, squeezing them gently, luxuriating in the contact. “No. I just… I wasn’t sure what to expect. I definitely  _ didn’t _ expect this.”

“Well, I wouldn’t expect you to open with ‘Hi, I’m a warlock’ on the first date. So it’s okay.” Alec paused again, smiling gently. “Thank you. For telling me. For trusting me.”

“Always,” Magnus promised. Apparently unable to resist, Alec leaned down, gently sealing Magnus’ lips in a kiss. It was exhilarating, set him alight just like always, and Magnus couldn’t help but lean a little closer, push a little deeper. But eventually they broke apart, and Alec chuckled, palm gently resting at the side of Magnus’ face. 

“Come on. Let’s rescue dinner and you can tell me all about it, Harry Potter.”

“Okay, that is offensive, that book is not even  _ close _ to accurate.”

Alec chuckled. And Magnus… Magnus did something he hadn’t even realised was possible.

He fell even more in love.


End file.
